


An Eberron Tale: Fallen Angel

by The_Outsider



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Dungeons & Dragons - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Courtroom Drama, Drama, Eberron (Setting), Fantasy, Gen, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-16 20:06:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29581389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Outsider/pseuds/The_Outsider
Summary: Syrania is the plane of peace and all that flourishes in times of peace. Home to angels that spend their immortal existence to serene study and contemplation. One such angel decided to apply her skills more practically so she could help mortals visiting the plane. As such she finds herself accused and forced to stand trial for the greatest sin possible in Syrania: hubris.





	An Eberron Tale: Fallen Angel

The lower end of the metal staff struck the floating disk of gold three times. Each time a clear, dark tremble reverberated through the grand hall. The hall was made of marble-like white crystal and shaped like an amphitheatre, with giant pillars instead of walls holding up a great dome roof. 

The muscular angel holding the staff that stood on the golden disk at the center had skin white like a summer cloud and long hair and beard black like a cloudy, dark night sky. His face had a constant slightly strict expression. He wore a simple grey toga that left his left shoulder bare. 

“Alariel!” he spoke in a deep, bellowing voice. “You stand accused of the crimes of hubris and inciting mortal worship of your person. How do you plead?”

“I was only trying to help them. Is helping mortals now a crime?”

“Help them? You’ve been not only caught having them bring you offerings, but also reshaped some of them in your image.”

On that last accusation a low, subtle collective gasp was heard from nearly all the other attending angels seated around the hall. The entire hall became filled with a low buzz of whispers for a few seconds before the judge hit the disk with his staff again, reminding them that the court was still in session. 

“They were only me showing some appreciation for giving them what they wanted.”

“Just because they want to worship you does not mean you should let them. Nor does that explain why you’ve reshaped some of them to look like you.”

“I just gave them what they wanted. Are you accusing me of being too generous?”

The judge tried his best to hide a growing frustration, though Alariel could see the subtle ire. Normally irritating the judge was a bad idea. But it was clear he already had a sentence in mind. All Alariel could do was stall in the hope to find an opening in the accusations that she could exploit. If she could get enough angels in the hall to side with her or at least doubt she might make it. 

The deep sound of the disk being struck echoed through the hall once more. “Bring in the first subject of proof!” yelled the judge. 

From an archway behind the judge - flanked by two angels with dark blue skin and completely white eyes - came a human woman in a plain, white dress. Surrounded by angels twice her size she looked rather timid and unsure about the situation she was in. The hall became a buzz with whispers once more as they saw the mortal come into view. She had long golden hair, glistening bronze skin, a gorgeous face, and a shapely curvy figure; the mortal woman was essentially a smaller, wingless image of Alariel.

“She asked for this!” exclaimed Alariel before the judge could continue. 

“She asked you to give her beauty.”

“She asked me to make her beautiful like me. I gave her exactly what she asked for.”

“And you chose to interpret that as making her into a smaller copy of you.”

“It made her happy.”

“It did.” The judge calmed down and his eyes became colder. “And you used that joy to get her to tell others about you. To attract more worshipers.”

“I merely told her that it would be good if she could send others I could help my way.”

“What about the gifts you asked for?”

“They’re just trinkets. I find baubles from the Material Realm quaint.”

“That’s why you have an entire collection of them?”

“Yes.”

“And you don’t find the act of mortals giving you these gifts to be thrilling?”

The hall grew quiet as Alariel tried to find the words for an answer that would not damn her. When the time to answer was drawing to a close she put on a soft smile. “Don’t most find gifts of appreciation enjoyable?” 

“You’re avoiding the question.”

“I’m merely reframing it. Because I think most of us here - maybe not you - would agree that being appreciated feels nice.” 

A few angels snickered briefly at the remark. The judge slammed the staff down on the gold disk and another dark tremble reverberated through the hall. Soon as the trembling sound was gone the hall fell silent. No one said a word. The judge maintained a calm expression that betrayed no emotion other than light irritation. His eyes remained fixed on Alariel. 

“You stand accused of hubris and inciting worship. How do you plead?” he said after a long moment, his tone even stricter than before. 

Alariel straightened her back and her neck as much as she could. “Not guilty.”

“The evidence presented so far speaks against you.”

“The evidence so far is circumstantial.”

“So you deny that you have a desire to be worshiped by mortals?”

“Yes.”

The judge tilted his head ever so slightly and his face turned to one of contemplation. “I believe my ears just heard what might be a lie.”

Alariel froze. It wasn’t a lie. She didn’t want to be worshiped. She only wanted to be appreciated. It seemed those two desires were similar enough that her word was a partial lie. At least it wasn’t a blatant lie. Maybe she could still spin this to her advantage. 

The judge looked upon her with silent contemplation for several minutes. During which the entire hall effectively held a collective breath of anticipation. There was a strong desire to come up with an excuse. But any word spoken while the judge was thinking was more likely to harm her case than help it. 

“Looks like mortal adoration is starting to corrupt you after all,” said the judge. “But you might still be saved. You have two options: Seclusion. Or fall.”

A choice between bad and worse. Either be sequestered away on some remote cloud island, or be stripped of her wings and be cast out of Syrania. Eternal imprisonment or eternal damnation. Though perhaps she could attempt at a third option. 

“I will not go into seclusion,” Alariel declared, her voice loud and firm. 

“Very well.” The judge slammed his staff into the disk once more. “Alariel! I hereby sentence you to fall. You will never take flight again. And you are forever banished from Syrania.”

“I accept the banishment.” Alariel gave the judge a light bow and as she straightened her back she unfurled her white, gold tinted wings. “But I will keep my wings.”

With a hard flap she took off into the air, spun around in a quick twisting somersault and flew out between the great pillars, out into the open blue sky. She didn’t need to throw a glance over her shoulder to know the night skinned guard angels were chasing her. 

The realm of Syrania stretched out before her as she flew. Islands with stone and earth creating solid surfaces atop soft clouds dotted the realm. Atop which villages, towns, farms, gardens, and wild fields and forests were. Crystal spires reached upwards from some islands and some floated on clouds of their own. 

There was a large cloud island slightly to Alariel’s left. On it was a small forest, a lush grass field and a small lake. More importantly there was a rather large regular cloud stretching out slightly beneath it on the far side. Perfect. Alariel folded her wings and dived down towards the nearest edge of the island. She continued down past the edge and unfurled her wings and curved her flight out under the cloud holding up the island. Soft, wet wisps of cloud splattered onto her wings, hair and face. 

Throwing a glance over her shoulder she saw the two guard angels plunge down behind her. They went a bit further down before they spotted her and unfurled their wings to curve their flight up towards her. Though their mistake had cost them a good bit of distance. 

Alariel steered towards the large cloud on the other side of the island. To her luck it was touching the island’s cloud. As she flew into the cloud she stopped flapping her wings to instead glide. The cloud showered her in a soft, sprinkle of cooling water. Under different circumstances a cloud shower would be refreshing, now it was annoyingly distracting. 

First she flew forward and then made a large, soft U-turn to the right, back towards the cloud island. Soon as she exited the cloud she straightened herself back up and stopped flying forward, instead trying to stay in the same spot as she glided downwards. 

From the edge of the cloud she quickly looked around to see if there were any other angels around. All she could see was white cloud, above her and to her sides, and blue sky in the far distance. She remained still as she tried to listen. No flapping of wings to be heard. Only the whizzing of a soft breeze blowing past her ears. 

Alariel dared a couple of careful flaps to keep herself from sinking too far. When she heard no other wings she flew back under the cloud island, veered slightly to the right and then up to the edge where she landed. She furled her wings and walked into the small forest to hide. 

When she was sure she was far enough in between the trees to not get spotted from outside she sank down against a thick birch tree and let out a sigh of relief. She now only needed to wait. Wait for the cover of night and then head for the Immeasurable Market. With some luck she’d find an open gate. If not, perhaps she could charm some mortal travelers to take her with them. 

Resting against the tree it was almost too easy to forget about her worries. The Azure Sky was always so peaceful. A certain tranquility rested over the realm. Hopefully the guard angels would soon give up the chase and return to their posts. Alariel would still be wanted, but not actively searched for. She’d be able to quietly slip away. A peaceful resolution. 

Eventually night came. The sky turned dark blue, sprinkled with thousands of glistening little stars. Alariel was a little sad that there were no auroras this night but that was probably for her best. She didn’t need more light. 

As silently as she could Alariel tip toed towards the edge of the island and looked around. No angels in sight. A few birds in the far distance but nothing more. Taking the opportunity she dove off the island and spread out her wings. In a graceful curve she flew upwards and above the island. She soared as she flew towards the center of the realm, towards the Immeasurable Market. 

It took several hours of flying for her to reach the Immeasurable Market. The great market in the sky was made up of several islands. At the center was an island large enough to hold a city, which it practically did. Houses large and small stood close together along a webbed network of paved streets. Around the central island were several smaller islands, all connected in a great network of large hanging bridges; so the ground bound travelers from the various realms could reach all parts of the Immeasurable Market. 

Alariel flew around high above the central island. It took a few laps but eventually she spotted a relatively small garden island with a paved center, atop which stood a great marble archway. The gate was closed however. Wouldn’t be much of a problem. With some luck it would open up within the next day or so. For now she needed to find a good place to hide that still had a good view over the gate. 

Without warning something crashed into Alariel from above. As she struggled against it she found herself wrestling against the two guard angels. 

“Get off!” she shouted as she tried to kick and push them off her. But they were too strong. No matter how much she struggled their iron grips managed to hold on to her. 

The three plummeted downwards at incredible speed towards the central island of the Immeasurable Market. Straight towards the rooftops. Alariel braced herself for the impact. The tiles, planks and wooden beams of the roof shattered as the three angels crashed into it. Alariel had never felt such pain. It was almost like her entire body cracked upon impact. The second impact as they slammed into the floor on the top floor was at least dampened by the first. 

The room they had crashed into was some kind of bedroom made for smaller beings. There was a broad bed, from which a black haired female elf stared in shock upon the trio of angels, while clutching a red and gold bed sheet to cover up her chest. 

“Sorry,” said Alariel as she did her best to give the elf an apologetic smile. 

The elf’s mouth opened but no sound came out. She only stared wide eyed at them. Not moving a muscle.

Alariel tried one last time to wrestle the guard angels off her. After a brief but futile tussle Alariel gave up and stopped struggling. Upon which the two guard angels pulled her up from the ground and dragged her up through the hole in the roof. Not that difficult as the height to the roof was shorter than them. Soon as they were outside the two angels took off and carried her across the sky. 

Hyllanai tried two more times to wrestle out of their grip now that they were busy with flying. Still no luck. Their grip remained unshakable. 

They carried her to a small, isolated island at the edge of the Immeasurable Market. There they pressed her face down to the ground. At least the grass and earth beneath her was soft. Though that brought little comfort as she felt the two angels grab her wings near the base. 

“No!” she screamed in panic. “Please don’t! I promise I’ll leave Syrania! I’ll never return! I promise!”

Her cries for mercy fell on deaf ears as she felt the cold searing pain of a sharp blade cutting into her wing, near the base on her back. 

“Please stop! No!” she screamed out in agony. Tears began to flow from her eyes. 

The guard angels however kept on calmly and methodically cutting into her flesh and bone. With a cracking snap she suddenly lost the feeling of her feathery limb. 

“No… please…” she sobbed. Her entire body was shaking. It all hurt so much. Both body and mind. 

Even though she had suffered through losing one wing, it didn’t prepare her for losing the second. She didn’t scream. She could only sob. Sobs that were interrupted by whimpers each time the blade struck. 

With the angel’s diligent and methodical hacking they were at least relatively swift. Yet even after the hacking was over the stumps that remained of her wing still hurt. A stinging sensation Alariel had never felt anything close to before. 

She kept on crying as her captors picked her up and flew her out into the sky. They carried her for about an hour out towards a large expanse of sky without any islands. There they unceremoniously dropped her. 

She did not know how long she fell. Long enough for her sobs to quiet down and her tears to dry up. Yet the sorrow never left her. Nor the pain. Her wings. Her beautiful wings. Now all she had were pathetic little stumps. She’d never been able to fly again. 

As she kept falling towards the dark below she hoped that wherever she landed she would be accepted for who she was. A place where she could be appreciated without judgement. But what good place would accept a fallen angel?


End file.
